A lot of the ALL THAT CHAT people are buzzing over whether there is some duplicity going on at the $21 front row lottery at A CHORUS LINE. Well, not only have I almost no doubt that something like that is probably going on, it's already been happening at nearly all the lotteries. I've heard stories about it happening at WICKED, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, and other productions.
But what do you expect?? Producers are not doing these lottos for the sake of being generous. There's always got to be a business bottom line. Besides these potential/supposed scandals, the main reason for their existance is to fill seats and to get people's butts to the box office. That way, if they lose, perhaps they'll buy full price tix.
The CHORUS LINE one, in particular, was set up in a particularly weird fashion. Usually, someone picks the numbers out of a bucket or hat or bag in front of us. At CHORUS LINE tonight, a woman picked them out while alone in the theater's lobby, while the rest of the potential theatergoers waited outside. Was she looking at whose names were on each of the papers?
As You've probably guessed, I tried the lotto and did not win.
So, it was 6pm and I was still without a show to see tonight. I made it to Chatterbox at DON'T TELL MAMA by 6:08, just in time. Tonight Seth's guest was Victoria Clark, and it proved to be unquestionably the funniest Chatterbox I've ever seen. I've only seen Clark onstage in PIAZZA, and I really didn't know how insanely funny she was.
You should check out Seth's weekly column at Playbill.com for a complete recount of everything she said, but from what I remember, here were some highlights.
1. She started on Broadway as an understudy in the original SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. At the time, she was a directing grad student at NYU and spontaneously was offered the chance to audition as an understudy, and she nailed it - but alas never went on.
2. Classic H2$ story. She was onstage as Smitty in the HOW TO SUCCEED revival during "Been a Long Day," alongside Matthew Broderick as Ponty and Sarah Jessica Parker as Rosemary. Her son, about one and a half at the time, was in a box seat with her husband. He screams repeatedly "HI MOMMY!" The audience is laughing it up. Finally, they exit out of the elevator by the number's end. We hear a whispered "BYE MOMMY!"
3. Most significant of all, the story of what led to her using that awkward hand-held microphone during the opening of the PIAZZA song sequence at the 2005 Tonys. Seconds before going on, a stagehand informed her that her body mic was dead, and handed her the hand-held. From across the Radio City stage, Kelli O Hara could see Clark's face of panic. O'Hara screams that it'll be okay. So, that leaves Clark carrying this huge mic, alongside her character's hand bag and red journal. Then about twenty seconds into her monologue, the stagehand tries to take the mic away, as her body mic is now working. Meanwhile, Clark's eyes are going wild, looking back and forth between the stagehands and the TV audience. Of course, Seth then screens the clip for us.
The show ended with a nice finale - Seth took to the piano and Clark sang a church hymn her grandmother once sang, with new music by Jeff Blumencrantz. This will be featured on her upcoming solo CD, which she noted will come out sometime in the fall.
Unfortunately, the matter of whether she was ever supposed to be in SOUTH PACIFIC was not addressed, nor was how/why she is going to be in IPHIGENIA 2.0 at Signature Theatre.
So - when Chatterbox ended at 7:25, I still had no show to see for 8pm. So I thought, hey, let's go back to ROMEO AND JULIET. I walked out of the nightclub and it was drizzling. But I thought to myself: it's not drizzling too badly. And if I try the standby line at the Delacorte, perhaps not too many people will be there. Well, there was a fair crowd there, but I did luckily snag a standby single ticket, getting into the show about five minutes after it started.
For the most part, I really enjoyed it more the second time around, having first seen it precisely thirteen days ago. Most importantly, I realized that I seriously misjudged Lauren Ambrose's performance, which was wonderful. The first time around, I thought her performance was good, but too emotionally mature, and I didn't buy the 29 year old playing a 13 year old. Though I still think she didn't look the role, I stopped caring about the technicality, and enjoyed her multi-layered, extremely intriguing performance. The rest of the ensemble cast has also gotten better. I strongly advise anyone who hasn't caught the production yet to do so before it closes on Sunday.